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Saturday, August 2

Recent work

I've been working at home and at Fleisher mostly lately- trying to spend time with the family but still get some art-making time in. I took a 2-day silk aquatint workshop at Fleisher last week. It was completely different than I expected, but I'm happy with the results and the possibilities it has for working with kids. I can't imagine doing it in elementary- but older kids could really do well, as long as there's a press available. I don't think it will really become a regular thing for me because I seriously hate inking plates.

Above are the cards I printed. I wanted something useful for my efforts, so I printed my plates as a bleed print on one end of a 6x10 inch sheet. Below is my plate after printing and cleaning it off again. It works a little like a collograph. The screening adhered to the plate gives a texture that holds the ink well. Then you paint over it with gloss medium/white acrylic to create the design. Thinner washes create gray tones, and building up layers or using thick application creates the lights. My image was from a sketch of overlapping patterns from my sketchbook.

I'm very happy to have completed this piece:

It started as 2 photos from 7th street in south Philly. The background was the side of a neighbor building from a very recently torn-down building, and the wallpaper was still hanging on the walls. The overlay was from an Isaiah Zagar mural that had a doily impression in clay. The title is "Domestic Disturbance". It might be a bit harsh of a title, but it seems a propos.

I've just ordered the above digital image and the Queen Wyeth mashup from my last post to be printed for me from Spoonflower. The one above combines the rough wall of a shed on Norris street near my home and a pattern from a grill at Haghia Sofia in my former home of Istanbul. It blends together two extremes of environment- one run-down and poverty stricken, old from neglect, the other opulent, old but preserved. Me in the middle of two places. I've dubbed it Norris Sultana for the time being.
I've got a few more weeks before school starts again. Hopefully I'll be able to keep stitching.

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This blog will be an effort to document my thoughts and experiences in studio work, art criticism, and community education in the areas of fibers, color theory, screenprinting, and art education. Please respect my work and link back to me if you use any images and feel free to comment. I am a fiber artist from Philadelphia, teaching at Fleisher Art Memorial, and have recently completed my Masters of Art Education at Tyler School of Art, Temple University.